One Control Pale Blue Compressor

The One Control Pale Blue Compressor is a compressor pedal from the Japanese company One Control, one of three new pedals the company launched alongside the Dyna Red Distortion 4K and the Blackberry Bass Overdrive¹. It was designed with Swedish pedal designer Björn Juhl, who has worked with One Control on its colorful pedal range¹.

What it does

The Pale Blue Compressor is an optical compression circuit with an intelligent attack/decay circuit that One Control says automatically adjusts between long and short transients, producing a "fader riding" effect²¹. The maker's aim, in Juhl's words on Delicious Audio, is compression that stays musical rather than squashing the life out of a part:

Delicious Audio, speaking with Paolo De Gregorio and Björn Juhl²

The compressor has similarities with the BJFe Pine Green Compressor, which Juhl made with BJFe, but it is a different solution rather than a copy². One Control describes the pedal as able to bring tube warmth and dynamics to nearly any signal, and positions it for guitarists and bassists alike².

Controls

The Blend control lets you keep some of the untouched attack under the compression, and the three-band EQ with shelving bass and treble bands lets you shape the tone before or after the compression stage depending on taste²¹.

Where it sits

For players comparing compressors, the Pale Blue belongs to the optical, adaptive school rather than a fixed-ratio design: the attack and decay respond to the signal itself, which is what produces the automatic fader-riding behavior One Control describes²¹. If you are new to compression, the Compressor Pedals page covers how these circuits differ, and the Equalization Pedals page covers standalone EQ options for players who would rather keep the two jobs separate.

Videos

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